Erdogan: Sweden should not count on Turkish support for NATO membership

The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today that Sweden, a candidate country for NATO membership, can no longer count on its “support” Turkey after the burning of the Koran at a demonstration on Saturday in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.

“THE Sweden should not expect support from us for it NATO. If you do not respect the religious beliefs of Turkey or Muslims, you will not receive any support from us.” said the Turkish president.

The permission given to Swedish-Danish far-right Rasmus Paludan to demonstrate on Saturday in front of the Turkish embassy in Swedish capital provoked the anger of Ankara.

Under heavy police protection, this anti-Islamist and opponent of immigration burned a copy of the Koran.

“It is clear that those who caused such disgrace in front of our country’s embassy should no longer expect any favors from us regarding their application for NATO membership,” Erdogan emphasized.

Turkey had already canceled a planned visit by the Swedish defense minister on Saturday, which was aimed at trying to lift Ankara’s objections to Sweden joining the Alliance.

The spokesman for the Turkish presidency, Ibrahim Kalin, had already condemned a “hate crime”.

Swedish police had assessed on Friday that the Constitution and freedoms of demonstration and expression in Sweden did not justify banning this demonstration in the name of public order.

Turkey is the only obstacle to the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO (Hungary, the other member of the Alliance that has not ratified their accession, is expected to do so). Ankara accuses the Nordic countries of harboring Kurdish fighters and supporters it calls “terrorists”, particularly those of the PKK and its allies in northern Syria and Iraq.

For Ankara, any potential progress in giving the go-ahead depends on Stockholm’s moves to extradite people accused of terrorism by Turkey or involvement in the 2016 coup attempt.